Samsonite sets price range for $1.5 billion HK IPO

May 30 - Luggage maker Samsonite, backed by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, moved closer to its $1.5 billion Hong Kong initial public offering, setting an indicative range for the deal on Monday as it bet on booming Asian demand for global consumer brands.

Samsonite business collection

Samsonite will join companies such as L'Occitane and luxury brands such as Prada SpA and Coach that have targeted Hong Kong to raise their profile among Asian consumers or tap deep-pocketed investors to fund expansion in the region.

China's steep growth has created a new class of consumers in major cities as well as in the countryside that have snapped up everything from luxury shoes to handbags and jewelry.

"Overall demand for any branded product has seen no slowdown," said Renee Tai, a consumer analyst at Samsung Securities in Hong Kong.

Luxembourg-based Samsonite will offer 671 million shares in the IPO, with an indicative price range of HK$13.5 to HK$17.5 each, a source with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters.

About 82 percent of the shares in the IPO are existing shares, with 18 percent coming from a primary offering, said the source, who declined to be named because the details were not yet public.

NEW AD CAMPAIGN

Founded in 1910 in the United States by luggage salesman Jesse Shwayder, Samsonite has expanded to the four-corners of the world. Shwayder, a devout religious man, used $3,500 to start the company, naming his top products after Samson, the biblical figure with super strength.

The company has splashed Hong Kong with billboards for its new advertising campaign and last week packed a local shopping mall when pop icon Aaron Kwok attended the opening ceremony for one of its retail stores.

"The center of gravity of the wealth of the world is moving toward Asia. There are more and more Asians traveling, so it's natural for us to expect bigger growth," Ramesh Tainwala, Samsonite's president for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, said at a press conference ahead of last week's store opening.

Samsonite, owned by CVC and Royal Bank of Scotland following a debt restructuring last year, gets nearly one-third of its revenue from Asia, with China, India and Korea among its top five markets together with the United States and Germany.

The company will start meetings with investors to gauge demand for the offering on Monday, with pricing slated for June 10 in Hong Kong. The stock will start trading on June 16 under the "1910" symbol.

...Next June, Samsonite will again have a flagship store in Paris. The luggage brand will set up shop in a 100-m² space on boulevard des Capucines (8th district), a thoroughfare that it had formerly occupied until 2009.

...buy their luxury goods abroad, as well as an emerging middle class looking for affordable brands.For brands such as Samsonite, the move downmarket is a welcome change. Last year, the luggage maker opened 200 new...

...there.
"When I look at American airports, there is just no sense of trying to create in many of them a nice store," Samsonite International S.A. CEO Tim Parker said.
Olivier Bottrie, president of travel retail...

...Samsonite, the world's biggest luggage maker, is to replace the handles on its American Tourister brand's Tokyo Chic inventory, amid claims some products contained high levels of chemicals that may be carcinogenic.

...Laurence Graff decided to delist the company in 1977.
Graff would join Italian fashion house Prada SpA, luggage maker Samsonite, French cosmetics company L'Occitane and other global brands looking to tap booming...

...spokeswoman in Hong Kong declined to comment.
Graff is hoping to join Italian fashion house Prada SpA, luggage maker Samsonite, French cosmetics company L'Occitane and other global brands that have listed in Hong...

...percent from 8 percent eyed in each of the previous years.
Tim Parker, chief executive of Hong Kong-listed luggage maker Samsonite International, said on Wednesday its sales growth was likely to slow from 48...

...game, is considering a stock market flotation in Hong Kong, joining the many foreign firms who have gone public there.
Samsonite, Photo: Corbis Images
"In Asia there are growing markets -- the people and the...

...raising more than $500 million. The first-day pop is in sharp contrast to some of Hong Kong's other mega deals, including Samsonite International, which slumped 7.7 percent, and Italian fashion house Prada SpA,...

archives Calvin Klein

...The American company, which holds fashion licenses for Calvin Klein, Cole Haan and Ivanka Trump and which owns Villebrequin and Andrew Marc, has just finished up a solid 2014 fiscal year (ending on January 31) that...

...000 people, including 700 designers. The company includes some 350 licenses, including for Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, Calvin Klein, Izod, Nautica and Coach, besides directly controlling brands such as Frye, Juicy...

...Kendall Jenner follows in the footsteps of greats like Kate Moss and Brooke Shields as the new face of Calvin Klein Jeans, which has just launched the new campaign for its limited edition denim series.

...dresses for an array of necklines and textures.Lupita Nyong'o, closely watched on the red carpet, opted for a custom Calvin Klein white halter dress that she helped design and which was embellished with 6,000...

...a consultant in 2012 and being appointed head of womenswear in 2013. For his part, Ben Stubbington, who worked at Calvin Klein and Rogan, has been the head of menswear since 2010. "When I founded Theory in 1997,...

...penned by the creator and organizer of New York's Fashion Week is due for release on April 14.Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Andre Leon Talley are among the 19...

...along the way, I was able to bring some partners in," he said.Clothing conglomerate Phillips-Van Heusen, who also owns Calvin Klein, bought Tommy Hilfiger in 2010 for $3 billion but Hilfiger is still the chief...

...told the Times of India. "Initially, we will have footwear items from our brands such as Arrow, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, among others."The announcement is important because Arvind stands out as a major...

...Mrket, visitors will be able to check out the Brklyn Dry Goods retail pop-up and see brands including Bill Blass, Calvin Klein, Isaac Mizrahi and Ted Baker.The Modern Assembly shows are on from February 16 to 18 at...